The Legend of the 576
by heythereholly
Summary: 1x2 YAOI! Heero rides the mysterious 576 home everyday. His life seems normal enough until an amethyst-eyed boy comes on the bus and forever changes his life and beliefs. But what happens when the Curse tries to take Duo? What about the Undoing?
1. Phantom Reborn

Bus Line 576  
  
This fic was inspired when I found out about a bus line I never knew existed. It runs by my house, apparently o_O, but I never knew about it. It's not haunted or whatever, but I figured since I never knew about the 576 I'd make a fic outta it somehow. And this is my result.  
  
Thank you to Emily Hato for helping me get this fic started ^_^; arigatou!  
  
Tia, D, Solo, Vi, Sara, Nee: I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THIS!!!! *glomps*  
  
Line that plays a part in this fic: Things aren't always what they seem.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
They say that fifty years ago, on a cold end-of-winter day, the 576 bus line was taking its usual course over a bridge when the driver went crazy and drove the bus over the edge, bringing himself and everyone inside to a painful death as the bus crashed into the valley below. Word has it that every March 21 you can hear the giggles of the childen and newspaper pages turning, all seeming right, and then you hear the screams and shouts as the people on board fall to their bloody deaths. News around town also says anyone riding the 576 on March 21 in the afternoon is doomed to die. People love to believe the driver was on drugs, or was having a seizure, because no one knows the true story. No one survived the crash.  
  
But you see, some people also say some bodies were never found. Those people say the spirits of the driver and young boy won't rest until their bodies are found. Folklore is that the two spirits will bring anyone riding the 576 down to their deaths every March 21, thinking that maybe this time their bodies will be found. Many people also believe the boy was about fifteen years of age, because that's how old most other kids on the bus were.  
  
Actually, they could have found the two bodies had anyone entered the mangled and crumpled up bus- the driver's decayed bones were currently still slumped over the steering wheel, or at least that's what some people think. Others say the bodies of the boy and driver are crushed below the ancient bus.  
  
And some say, there are ghosts haunting the 576.  
  
* * *  
  
A lone figure stood statue-like at the faded green bus stop, chocolate brown hair a mess and cobalt eyes set in a fixed glare. The wind blew angrily around the Japanese youth, blowing still-green leaves before unmoving orbs of cold fire. Air hung around the person like a veil; humid yet dry and boiling at the same time. In the distance a single figure loomed, rising out of the grey pavement and glowing a pale green above large, rounded square windows. The yellow and orange painted stripes became visible to the student as the bus approached the Ida and Jersey bus stop. Slowly, the teen removed a tattered and worn brown leather wallet from deep within a pant pocket. The loud screech of the old tires sounded as the empty automobile pulled up to the stop. With the press of a button two white doors lined with black rubber opened, beckoning the silent youth to climb the three stairs which would lead to the seating area. The student obeyed the ancient request of the doors, flashing a purple bus pass to the driver. The attendant nodded and closed the doors. The bus started pulling away as its single occupant took a seat.  
  
A couple stops came and went before something out of the ordinary happened. The sophmore student felt the bus lurch as it pulled up to another stop. The white doors parted once more and a skinny, braided teen stepped on board the bus. The driver didn't bother to interrogate the newcomer for a fee or pass. The younger of the two people at the door of the bus nodded at the ghostly driver and started down the rows of bolted-in seats, pausing when he saw the silent occupant of the bus sitting buried in a science textbook. Clad in a priest's outfit, the new student on the bus took a seat next to the brown haired, straight "A" teen. "Hey! I didn't know anyone still rode this bus after... Well, anyways, hi. What's up? How long've you been riding this bus?"asked the peppy American youth, crossing one leg over the other and placing thin hands behind somewhat busy chestnut hair, allowing the golden and red strands to appear amongst all the brown. The textbook lowered, revealing two ice-like cobalt eyes.  
  
"What?" questioned the stoic teenager, placing the textbook inside a dark navy Jansport backpack. Pilling the zipper of the arch of the backpack, the student glared at the other boy sitting beside him.  
  
"I said, how long have you been riding this bus?"  
  
"Before that."  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"Before that."  
  
"Hi?"  
  
"No, more before."  
  
"I didn't know anyone still rode this bus?"  
  
"After."  
  
Understanding dawned in the smaller boy's amethyst eyes. "Oh. After. Well, um, it's nothing really important. Lemme introduce myself. I'm Duo. Duo Maxwell. I might run and hide but I never tell a lie. That's me in a nutshell!" Duo held his hand out for the other boy to shake. There was something not quite right about this enthusiastic boy... Something...unreal. Mysterious. Suspicious.  
  
"Heero Yuy." replied the Japanese boy, reluctantly shaking Duo's hand. "Douzou yoroshiku."[1]  
  
"What? What language is that?" Duo asked, confused.  
  
"Japanese. My apologies."  
  
"What's it mean?"  
  
"Nothing. Nevermind."  
  
The braided boy shrugged and nodded.  
  
.  
  
"So, do you take this bus every day?"  
  
Heero nodded.  
  
"Even on February 21?"  
  
"Yes. Why?"  
  
Duo suddenly looked suprised. "Oops! I meant March 21...Sorry. Guess a lotta time's gone by and I forgot the date when I di- um, when the rumors started spreading. So do you take this bus on March 21?"  
  
"Yes. Why?"  
  
"You don't know the story?"  
  
"I'm new in town. What story?"  
  
"Ah," Duo shook his head. "Some things are best left unsaid until later."  
  
The bus pulled up to Heero's usual stop. A long while ago the driver had learnt where Heero got off every day. Sullen eyes peered at the boy from the mirror near the driver.  
  
"This is my stop." Heero said, standing and gathering his belongings. He started his way towards the door.  
  
"Mm'kay. See ya around buddy!" waved Duo, smiling.  
  
Heero nodded and stepped off the bus.  
  
.  
  
"I see you haven't changed, boy."  
  
"Change is for those who want it, bud. I've decided I'm going to stop letting what happened prevent me from being as close to normal as I can. Go tell the governer if you don't like it. You may want to stay the way you are for the rest of eternity... But I'm not gonna sit and rot."  
  
"Never said you should, boy. Never said you should."  
  
"Yeah. I'll get off here, thanks."  
  
With a less than friendly smirk, the boy descended the three stairs and waited until the bus doors closed behind him. The white doors drew to eachother reluctantly. The bus drove away, growing paler and more translucent as it traveled off into the night.  
  
.  
  
"Yeah. Spend the rest of your life dying every year. Makes one helluva lotta sense to me."  
  
He plopped down on the grass and picked at a flower.  
  
"Not."  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
[1]- "Please be kind to me" or something like that. My Japanese site I study from says you HAVE to say this.  
  
Here it is, Tia, Nee, D, Sara, and Vi!! I hope you like it!! PLEASE r/r people! I beg you! *begs* Please? I'm lonely out here.  
  
See that little box down there? Click "go". See what it does, minna!  
  
Hehe, bye. REMEMBER: You + Reviews = Happy Authoress = Faster Updates!  
  
....  
  
Forever Duo's Girl/TaraSaturn  
  
email: glitzykiss67@aol.com  
  
OR  
  
IM: DuosHotandMine01 


	2. A Note at Night

Bus Line 576  
  
Chapter Two: A Note At Night  
  
Thanks to all my reviewers!!  
  
And a glomp and hi to all the guild girls ^__^  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
The door closed behind the boy with a somewhat satisfying clang as he tossed his schoolbooks aside, leaving them for the next day. He still had plenty of time to do his homework, right? His hand rose idly to flick the light on in his kitchen, and he stared at the lack of what he supposed should be happiness which filled his solitary house. Not like he cared, he had more important things to worry about, like his grades, and paying rent. 'And that boy.' He shook his head at his sudden thought, pondering for a few moments as to who 'that boy' was until his mind reached a conclusion. "Duo." He said aloud. "Duo Maxwell."  
  
He shuffled into the perfectly tiled kitchen, opened the fridge, and peered inside, cobalt eyes searching for the cup of water he shoved on to the metal bars earlier that morning while in a rush. Upon finding the single grey cup he was looking for, he removed it from the fridge and took a sip before replacing the cup to its perch in the middle of the first shelf in the fridge. He closed to door slowly, body in his house but mind somewhere else- on a certian amethyst-eyed, braided, peppy someone, to be exact.  
  
Climbing the stairs which led to his room, he forgot to shut off the kitchen light, and when he remembered, he didn't care. His room was dark when he entered it; the darkness fit his personality. Empty...mysterious...dead. Somewhere deep, deep inside of him, he wanted to find a light, though currently he didn't know who or what that light could be. He would never admit to feeling how he did to anyone without killing them thereafter, but in order to tell anyone in the first place he had to convince himself he could handle his emotions. Sigh. Emotions were one of the only things which confused him.  
  
The most inviting thing to Heero right now was simply to go to sleep, but something on his nightstand caught his eye. A folded piece of paper lay precariously amidst the rest of the objects he kept by his bed- an alarm clock, some pens, and other random things he never had time to catagorize. Curious, he extended one hand and grasped the note, realizing suddenly it hadn't been there this morning. Someone must have broken into his house, yet nothing was out of place; everything was how he left it that morning. Something, he decided, was not right. Nimble hands unfolded the note and he found writing, which read:  
  
'Hey Heero! Nice meetin' ya today. Hope you don't mind this note being all in your house, but I couldn't resist. So, are you gonna be taking the same route home tomorrow? I sure hope so! Well, I'll see ya then, buddy!' The note was in unfamiliar handwriting, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out who the note was from.  
  
Until he thought of him.  
  
"DUO?!"  
  
Heero clenched the note in his hands. Something was not right.  
  
.  
  
The same figure from the previous day stood at the same bus stop, standing still once again but this time with unfocused eyes, deep in thought. He didn't notice, this time, as the pale 576 pulled up to the stop, until the doors parted nearly right into his face. Removing the same tattered, worn wallet from his pocket, the Japanese boy showed the driver the pass and took his seat, this time further in the back of the bus, by a window. He looked out the window. A flash of brown passed by.  
  
With an ageless groan, the bus started shoving off to its destination, paying no attention to the braided boy chasing after it. "HEY! WAIT UP! HEY!" called Duo, flailing his arms like a madman. "You can't just take off like that, buddy! Slow down!" Duo caught Heero's eye and waved while running, motioning for him to tell the driver to pull over. "Ya mind pullin' over?!"  
  
Heero nodded at the running boy and spoke to the driver from the back of the bus. "A passenger wishes to board."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know." grunted the driver in response, skidding the bus to a halt. "Kids today... Not an ounce of decency..." he pressed the hidden button to open the doors, which did as they were told, to reveal the not-so-happy and pouting face of Duo.  
  
"Hey, you could'a at least slowed down." muttered the boy as he took a seat next to Heero. "Hey buddy!" He smiled the traditional Maxwell-grin and waved.  
  
.  
  
Heero nodded at the skinny boy sitting beside him. He decided it, there was definetly something not right about Duo, no matter how friendly and magnetic he seemed. "I need to speak to you."  
  
Duo grinned and tilted his head sideways at Heero, violet eyes sparkling. "What's up?"  
  
"I found a note in my house today."  
  
"Oh? What was it for?"  
  
Heero withdrew the crumpled paper from his pocket and unfolded it, handing the paper to Duo. "Read it."  
  
"Okay!" Duo's smile faded as he read the note which... He shook his head. "Sounds kinda cooky to me; how'd it get there?" He peered at the familiar handwriting. Damn his carelessness.  
  
"That's what I'm asking you. You're the only person I spoke to yesterday." Heero replied, sending the braided boy a mysterious glare.  
  
"Well..." Duo said, "I dunno. I mean, I'm not able to like...float into your house or something, I'm just a kid, like you."  
  
Heero raised an eyebrow. "Don't you go to school?"  
  
"Um..." Duo panicked, he didn't expect interrogation. "I-I can't afford schooling." he was lying, blatantly, and hated doing so. Luckily Heero wasn't looking at him right now, or he would see the nervousness present on Duo's face. But he couldn't not lie.... Or could he? No, no... Not now, he decided, not now.  
  
Heero set his books down and turned to face Duo completely. "Ah. Money issues?" Logically he couldn't think of another reason, outside of being homeschooled, for a kid like Duo not to attend a school of some kind. Unless, that is, his suspicions were correct. And that would make everything different.  
  
"Yeah, real bad ones...can't really afford anything these days," Duo quickly put a smile on his face. "I mean, I kinda have a place to stay, but it does get boring, I must admit, when you gotta live by yourself."  
  
Shrugging, Heeo replied, "I live by myself." his eyes hardened. "Back to the topic at hand," here Duo had to fight the urge to sigh. "Do you know how that note got into my house, into my room, and on my table?"  
  
`Yeah, I do happen to know that,' Duo thought as he replied, "Nope. Like I said, I'm just a kid."  
  
.  
  
"Aye, a very old kid if yer askin' me." grunted the driver from the front of the bus.  
  
"Hey, just 'cause I'm not a little kid doesn't mean I'm old!" Duo glared at the man controlling the steering wheel.  
  
The driver smirked. "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." he removed one hand from the wheel and waved it carelessly with a smirk.  
  
Another glare from Duo silenced the driver.  
  
.  
  
Heero listened to the conversation, intruiged and suspicious. Duo's arm brushed against his momentarily, and he shivered. Duo's skin was ice cold. "You're cold." said Heero. Why was Duo so cold when he emitted an aura of warmth?  
  
"What? Sorry," Duo blinked, "I'm cold?"  
  
"Freezing." Heero stated. "Listen, come to my place tonight. There's more I wish to speak with you about." he found himself saying. He turned to look at Duo, and saw his amethyst eyes were filled with happiness and almost appeared to be glittering.  
  
"Really? But I mean, I just met you yesterday, I--"  
  
Heero shook his head. "Oh, hush it." [1]  
  
Duo blinked. "So...you're serious?" He almost couldn't believe someone like Heero would want anything to do with a-...basically homeless kid like himself. The mere thought of spending a night in a nice, warm home made him smile, and definetly improved his mood. After all... He had tons of reasons to be depressed, one reason inparticular which occured on a certian date he didn't want to remember.  
  
A nod from Heero made a larger grin appear on Duo's face. The boy was now happier, and voiced his glee loudly to spite the driver, who was glaring at him in the rear-view mirror. Duo's eyes glazed over as an image ran through his mind. Hadn't something like this happened that day? Wait...no, that wasn't possible. Or was it...? His thoughts were brought back to reality as Heero jabbed his elbow. "Oh! Sorry, what'd ya say?"  
  
"I said, this is my stop. You're coming with me tonight."  
  
There was something in Heero's tone of voice Duo didn't exactly love, but didn't exactly hate either. "Mm'kay." Duo said.  
  
.  
  
Heero's house was really just a one-room apartment, not like it mattered any to Duo, however. It was well-kept, to say the least, and it became obvious to Duo how much of a perfectionist Heero really was when he saw the impeccably ordered everythings around the front room. He was almost afraid to sit down or touch anything, for fear he would ruin the beautiful perfection Heero had worked so hard to establish with his untidyness. But he found he had no choice as Heero instructed him to sit in one of the chairs- a command which Duo immediately obeyed.  
  
Heero sunk into a chair opposite the braided boy and looked into amethyst depths, searching for answers he wasn't sure existed. Duo froze under Heero's penetrating gaze, already thinking up a million and one things he could have done to do something wrong. "Duo." Heero said monotonusly, tapping his fingers quite loudly on the silk-woven arm of a grey-green chair.  
  
"What's up, Heero?" Duo asked quickly.  
  
The boy in question remained silent for a few long moments. "What do you know about...the legends?"  
  
"Well," Duo froze. "There's lotsa tales to it really, no one knows the real story about the.... Well, which legend do you mean? There's the one about the 576, one about the kid and driver whose bodies were never found, one about--" Geez, he felt so...pathetic. Talking about something which happened at least half a century ago. Luckily he was cut off by Heero.  
  
"All of them, Duo. Tell me about all of them." Heero interrupted.  
  
Duo sat back in his chair unconciously. "Um...okay. Well, see, fifty or so years ago there was this bus and driver, right? And so, the bus was going over a bridge one day, and the driver went, like...crazy. He started yelling all these insane things in another language, and drove the bus off the edge of the bridge. Everyone died when the bus hit the ground below, and even though some rescue crew people came they never found all the bodies. Supposedly there was the body of a kid around our age...and the driver. But no one ever found their bodies, because no one went inside the bus to look, and--"  
  
"Hold up." Heero said sharply, "That's not what I heard from some girls." He peered at Duo suspiciously. "And how do you know all these things no one else does? Are you some kind of top-secrent agent or something?" asked the Japanese sarcastically.  
  
"Nah," Duo shook his head. "I have my ways. Anyways, no one went to look inside the bus, so no one found the bodies of the boy and driver. Though, honestly, I don't think now anyone could find anything, with it being like, a half century ago that this happened."  
  
Heero nodded. "Reasonably so, reasonably so..." He dug his hand into his pocket, and withdrew the note he found the previous night. It was now slightly bent from being held within the boy's pants for so long; it was showing faint signs of wear."You still haven't answered my question about this. Duo."  
  
Duo sighed. "Like I said, Heero. Logically, there's no way anyone could just appear in your bedroom out of nowhere and deposit a note on your nightstand. I mean, they'd have to be a ghost or something. But I don't think someone like you would believe in ghosts, Heero." He peered at Heero through widen violet eyes.  
  
"Duo," Heero said, "Just answer my question. Did you, or did you not, put the note on my desk?"  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
[1] Justina from school says this all the time...TABAAAANN!! (you won't understand "Tabaaaaaaaan" unless you're one of the 8th grade girls in my class ^__^*)  
  
Ok, this like..sucked. I ran out of ideas for this particular chapter in the middle and the Fic-Ending-Scene Muse bit me, so I spent one helluva long time writing the ending for this fic, which I still haven't finished. I think undoubtedly this was the hardest chapter to write, without giving too much away. Aaanyways, I hope you liked it!  
  
WAI...I got my hair straightened today. I now look like Trowa. One of my GREEN eyes is entirely covered by LIGHT BROWNISH hair. ^__^*  
  
...  
  
Forever Duo's Girl/TaraSaturn  
  
email: glitzykiss67@aol.com  
  
OR  
  
IM: DuosHotandMine01  
  
**Feel free to IM me anytime! I'm always on!** 


	3. Appearances are Decieving

The Legend of the 576  
  
o_o I'm updating. ^_^ Many arigatos out to my uncle Markie, for without him hepling me plot you would never be getting this update.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
"Duo," Heero pressed on, "did you or did you not put the note on my desk?"  
  
"Well..." Duo hesitated, "do you believe in ghosts?"  
  
Heero blinked. Why was Duo asking him if he believed in ghosts? "It... sort of depends."  
  
"Well then," Duo said, "I've got some stuff to show you."  
  
* * *  
  
Heero blinked and turned to the side to look at Duo, the setting sun creating a perfect backdrop to match light amethyst orbs. "You want us to go down *there*?"  
  
The cliff easily went down a nearly vertical path of about fifty to seventy feet, to be polite in judgements. At the very bottom of the valley, where the two cliffs met in the dried up river valley below, was an ancient, worn out bus. A crow appeared out of what seemed to be nowhere and flew over to the bus, landing with a completely audible clang on the slightly open door near the front and started pecking imploringly at the inside of the bus, searching for food. A light wind blew. The bird cawed and flew away.  
  
"Yup. One of the things I wanna show you is down there... Or should I say, some of the stuff." Duo cracked a grin at Heero before he dropped down into a sitting position and dangled his feet over the edge of the cliff. "Well, let's not waste too much time. It'll take us a while to get down there." Duo turned around and gripped the edge of the cliff with his hands before kicking off and beginning his decent to the valley.  
  
Heero watched as the braided wonder climbed down the cliff before he himself started on his way down.  
  
.  
  
Many grunts, slips, falls, and X-rated curse words later, the pair had reached the valley. Heero gazed up at the cliff which they had been standing on however long ago. He turned to Duo. "So what is it you wanted to show me?"  
  
"Well, ya see that bus over there?" Duo pointed behind him with his thumb.  
  
Heero nodded.  
  
"It's in there." Duo stated as if it were the most simple thing imaginable.  
  
"In there...?" Heero inquired, peering suspiciously at the ruined bus. "What could possibly be in there that you want to show me? Didn't they get everything out of this area when the crash first happened?"  
  
Duo shook his head. "Nope. They forgot a lot. But I know where that lot is." he explained, pulling back the rusted door. "Come on in. Make yourself comfortable."  
  
"Comfortable? How is it possible to be comfortable in this old wreck?" Heero inquired curiously.  
  
Duo shrugged. "Easy. Just don't look at the steering wheel and the drivers' seat."  
  
As fate and the power of curiosity would have it, Heero ignored Duo's words and looked at the steering wheel and drivers' seat. And immediately regretted it.  
  
There, sitting quietly in the center of the seat, was a dusting pile of bones draped in faded blue cloth. The bones themselves didn't really creep Heero out, but the open-jawed skull sitting on the bar connecting the steering wheel to the dashboard did. Its' empty eyes peered at Heero in a way he had never known before; the stare was empty and dead, sullen and haunting. Heero shivered and murmured a sound of disgust.  
  
"I told you not to look at the steering wheel." Duo stated casually from the very back of the bus, fitting in perfectly with the darkness created by lack of sunlight.  
  
Heero 'hn'ed.  
  
.  
  
"Now, you know how they said they never found the body of the boy who died?" Duo asked, putting more emphasis in his voice this time.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well," Duo said, yanking back the very last seat. "They didn't think of looking everywhere. Amature police officers, they were. Hardly knew a thing." Duo stepped aside to reveal a worn priest's outfit laying dessheveled, entertwined with the occasional visible bone. Heero knelt down and examined the bones, hesitantly pulling back the black fabric. Duo watched as his comrade inspected the area.  
  
'I wonder if he's aware that he's touching my clothing.' He shrugged. "Well, this what I wanted to show you down here. Let's go up to the school. You don't wanna stay in this area when it gets too dark out." Duo nodded his head at the sky as it was changing from a darkened purple to a deep navy. The sun had already set by now, and Duo wanted to get out of there.  
  
Heero nodded. "Yeah... let's."  
  
* * *  
  
A while later, Duo and Heero were standing in the darkness created by the closed door to the boys' locker room. Heero had only ventured into the room a few times so far, he had chosen to take a physical education class next semester, so he really didn't have any reason to come into the locker room. He waited patiently while Duo scouted around the dark room for his old gym locker, just for the sake of seeing if anyone had been using it lately, though Heero didn't think Duo could find the correct locker in the almost entirely pitch black darkness.  
  
"Aha!"  
  
Or not.  
  
Shrugging, Heero wandered around aimlessly, following the sound of Duo's voice until he found him. He blinked. Duo was currently picking the lock of locker number 734*.  
  
"Why don't you just do the code?"  
  
'Crap,' Duo thought to himself, thinking quickly. "I'd rather be sneaky."  
  
Heero smirked casually and waited for Duo to finish picking the lock. "What do you want to show me regarding that locker?"  
  
"Oh," Duo said, "It's not in here. I just felt like seeing what's in here."  
  
"Isn't that your locker?"  
  
"It used to be." Duo cursed inwardly, remembering how he said earlier he couldn't afford schooling. "Well, it was before money ran out..." One day Duo was going to have to admit to all his lies. He just hoped that day was far, far away.  
  
"Oh."  
  
Finally, the lock clicked and Duo grinned widely, pulling back the metal locker door and peeking inside. He smiled when he pulled out an extremely old looking notebook, bound by dusted metal rings. Flipping through it nonchantly, Duo shoved the notebook back inside the locker and stood, closing the door and turning back around to face Heero.  
  
.  
  
"Now. What I'm about to show you might very well scare the crap out of you." Duo warned as he grabbed Heero's hand and dragged him over to the old team banner. "Oh, just let me give you some background information on this school, first."  
  
"Alright," Heero said curiously.  
  
"Well, to begin, it's built on a cemetary." the comment was made as if it was the most obvious thing in the entire world.  
  
"How pleasant." Heero muttered sarcastically.  
  
Duo turned away from Heero momentarily and glanced at the team banner, proudly sporting the name 'Clairmont Demons' in large, capitalized letters. There it was, plain as day. The pulsating light he had seen so long ago. "It's behind here."  
  
Heero arched his eyebrow. "Unless you plan on showing me a wall."  
  
"It's not the wall. It's what's behind the wall."  
  
"There can't be anything behind a wall except for another wall, which is infront of another room."  
  
Duo crossed his arms and smirked. "You don't know that."  
  
"...hn."  
  
.  
  
"Anyways... And no, I'm not gonna show you the ass of a poster... Do you see a kinda flickering light coming from behind the poster?" Duo asked cautiously.  
  
Heero glared intensely at the banner, almost wiling himself to see whatever it was Duo was talking about. Finally, after a long and silent pause, Heero caught sight of a tiny, almost invisible flicker of light. "Yeah."  
  
"Good. That'll make things one helluva lot easier on me."  
  
Shrugging, Heero nodded and waited for Duo to do whatever it was he wanted to. He watched as the long-haired boy pulled back the banner and revealing a long, dark tunnel, at the end of which was a dim, glittering light. Heero stared in awe at the pure mystery of the scene before him, running over a million and one possible explinations for a tunnel just appearing suddenly out of nowhere. Actually, make that he ran over the million and one possible reasons for a tunnel to illogically appear from behind a banner, because Heero was plain confused and couldn't come up with a reasonable thought.  
  
"See? I toldja there was something behind the wall. And not just another wall." Duo said as he climbed inside, beckoning Heero to follow him. He poked around with his amethyst eyes, checking the entire area for any sign of mortal danger.  
  
Heero clambered inside the tunnel shortly after Duo had, slightly unnerved by the presence he felt, but he couldn't see anyone or anything else beside himself and Duo.  
  
.  
  
"So, Heero. Listen. You've gotta stick right by my side. This place isn't exactly what you would call safe. And you really can't afford to get lost."  
  
Heero nodded, taking a careful mental note of everything he was being told just in case he needed the information later on. "What's in here?"  
  
"It's not a what--"  
  
"Not this again."  
  
"I wasn't finished. It's more of a... who-what." Duo said, falling into step beside Heero.  
  
The Japanese blinked. "A who-what?"  
  
"Either." Duo explained as he and Heero turned a corner. Neither of them noticed the mist starting to take shape, until both boys felt an eerie presence forming somewhere infront of them. Duo turned around first, and immediately regretted taking Heero down into the passageway.  
  
.  
  
"SHIT!"  
  
Cursing loudly, Duo grabbed Heero's wrist and ran as fast as he could away from the mist, which, unfortunately, he recognized as the very same mist which had almost brought him to the pits of doom so long ago. He dragged his Japanese comrade out of the locker room, through the main hallway, and outside and away from the campus at an almost inhuman speed.  
  
Once they had barely managed to catch their breath, Heero noted the darkness of the night sky. "It's late." he said calmy.  
  
"Yeah, it is," Duo agreed, wiping sweat from his brow and leaning against a pole sticking out of the ground. On top of the pole was a painted sign, bearing the numbers '576' and the bus' destination point beside the numbers. In the distance, Duo spotted a bus coming up. Adrenaline was still coursing through his veins as the bus pulled up, he didn't even realize he was boarding the last 576 of the night with Heero.  
  
.  
  
Only once he sat down and relaxed a little, did Duo realize just what kind of a mess he had just gotten himself and Heero into.  
  
And he hated it.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
There you go! See? I'm not dead! *rises from dust* I LIIIIIIIIIVE! ^_^ enjoy.  
  
...  
  
Berrful Hunter  
  
email: ilovetchan@yahoo.com / bringmetolife02@yahoo.com  
  
OR  
  
IM: Tsuiraku Hoshi 


	4. To Be Someone Special

The Legend of the 576  
  
Yes, I'm aware Heero is kinda OOC. But keep in mind this is an AU fic. I could turn them all into... hypochondriac hamster-mastadon mutants driven by cheese if I wanted to. But let's not go to that extreme, ne? Lol.. ^_^  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
Duo cringed silently as the bus loomed dangerously near the edge of the bridge; he realized this was the exact spot he had come to meet his death so many years ago. The bad feeling he was getting in the very core of his heart didn't help him relax, either. The bus creeked and clanged as it rode along the mammoth-sized bridge, increasing the amount of adrenaline coursing through Duo's veins. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head slightly on to Heero's shoulder as he felt the bus approaching the deadly turn in the bridge where the bus had gone over half a century ago.  
  
'Please don't fall please don't fall please don't fall...!' The braided boy repeated to himself over and over in his head as the automobile started turning over on its side.  
  
.  
  
"Duo... The bus is falling." Heero said softly, unimaginably calm for someone about to die. Out of the corner of his eye, the Japanese saw the driver unconcious at the steering wheel, his arm leaning the steering wheel to the right.  
  
With a loud crashing sound, Duo suddenly found himself fallen on top of Heero as the bus started falling sideways off the edge of the bridge. He latched on to the seat infront of him and tried to pull himself off of Heero; he knew what he had to do but was very reluctant. The time wasn't right...  
  
Suddenly the two found themselves outside of the bus. Neither of them had any idea what happened, but Duo suspected it was the work of Shinigami trying to seek revenge upon Heero for befriending Duo; trying to ruin their relationship so that he could take Duo into the underworld, leaving Heero alone. Or dead, for that matter.  
  
Duo panicked when he remembered Heero hadn't the power to 'float' in midair. Well, this was it. Reveal what he was to Heero, or let Heero die. And he wasn't about to let that happen.  
  
"SCREW IT!" Duo shouted before he dived underneath Heero and caught him under the arms. Heero grunted as his fall was suddenly stopped. Both Duo and Heero's attention was drawn from eachother at this point as they watched the bus plummet towards the valley below. Duo snapped out of it and quickly 'flew' over to the nearest secure peice of land, right before the cliffs started and the bridge began. Once steady on the ground, Duo released his deathgrip on Heero and flopped down on his back on the slightly moistened grass.  
  
.  
  
"Thank you." Heero said after a long pause. "You saved my life."  
  
Duo frowned and shook his head. "Only doin' what's right..."  
  
Heero turned in his sitting position so he was facing Duo. "I wonder what caused that..."  
  
"I don't think we really... wanna know..." Duo muttered under his breath as he shrugged.  
  
"Nn." Heero mumbled. There was an extended bout of silence. "Hey, wait a minute... how in hell did you do that?"  
  
Duo's smile dissapeared as he sat up straight and looked at Heero. "You sure you wanna know?"  
  
Heero paused before nodding once. "Yes. That's why I asked."  
  
"Well... the answer is not something you'd expect." Duo said, standing and dusting himself off as he and Heero started walking away from the valley, and away from the point where Heero almost met his death.  
  
"How do you mean?"  
  
"Well, Heero. Let's put it this way. I was the one who put that note on your desk."  
  
Heero stopped walking momentarily and stared at Duo. "How? You don't have keys to my place, and nothing was touched at all."  
  
"I'm... not what I seem to be, Heero." Duo sighed and started walking slower. "I have powers you've only dreamed of... but perhaps they are only your nightmares."  
  
Neither of the boys noticed they had taken the shortcut to a park; the shortcut went past the school. Heero blinked at Duo. "What kind of powers do you mean? And how did you get those powers?"  
  
"Well... it all started fifty years ago tonight--" Duo began.  
  
Heero cut him off. "Fifty years? What are you talking about, fifty years? You're fifteen years old, Duo."  
  
"I told you, Heero. The answer is not what you would expect at all."  
  
"So tell me already. Explain." Heero stated.  
  
Duo sighed as he folded his arms behind his head as they walked among the shadows of the trees. "Wait until I finish telling you my story before you ask me any more questions."  
  
Heero nodded, the darkness of the post-sunset atmosphere illuminating his cobalt eyes.  
  
"Well, like I said, it all began fifty years ago tonight. See, when I was going through school, I was your typical nerd. The kind who can be described as a 'straight `A` loner'. People hated me passionately because I was smarter than them; they were jealous of my intellect. So I pretty much kept to myself when I would ride the 576 home every day, across the bridge and back into my neck of the woods, or town in this case.  
  
Anyways, I was riding the bus on March 21st, I think it was the first day of spring, or somewhere near there. So I was just sittin' there, trying to remember if I had accidentaly left any homework at school in my hurry to catch the bus home, since it only ran once an hour. But see, I should have caught the four-o'-clock bus instead of the three-o'-clock bus. Because the one I took was the one that went over the edge of the cliff. That's how I know so much about what really happened when no one else does.  
  
Once the bus had crashed in the valley, I opened my eyes and saw everyone else who had been sitting in the bus was either dead outside, or thrown to heavens knows where from the bus. The driver and I were the only ones who had remained inside the bus as it was falling. Anyways, I thought I was the only survivor. But there *were* no survivors." Duo saw Heero's eyes widen at this point. "Not a single person survived the crash.  
  
But see, I didn't know I was dead at that point. So I, being the sensitive and caring person I was, decided to be mister nice guy and run back to the school to tell them what had happened. And believe me, I tried to get their attention so bad I almost drove myself insane. I yelled, shouted, heck, I even attempted throwing things at the administration, but they didn't even notice me at all. Eventually I gave up, figuring they were just ignoring me as they always had. Then I remembered I had left my homework in my gym locker, so I went to the lockers." Duo started kicking a pebble as he kept his eyes glued to the sidewalk in the park, not daring to glance up at Heero until his story was completed.  
  
"And I noticed something really wierd coming from the team's banner on the wall. It was pulsating. There was a light coming from behind it that I hadn't seen before at all. At this point I still thought I was alive. So I reached out and touched the part where the light was coming from. Then before I even knew what was happening, I was on the other side of the wall. I had walked through the wall. And so I was walking down this really long and dark tunnel. I had no idea what had happened or what was going on at all.  
  
I was thinking about whether or not to turn back when a mist started appearing infront of me. That mist was Shinigami himself. He called himself the god of death. He tried to take me into his kingdom of the underworld, but I escaped him. To this day I still don't know what gave me the energy I needed to high-tail it out of that tunnel, out of the locker room, and back into the main building where a majority of people were still present. It's quite the run when you're dead, lemme tell ya.  
  
It was then I realized I was dead. And ever since then I've been wandering around this area, and near the bus site and school grounds, just trying to find the answers to what went wrong that day, to find out why I had to die at fifteen. I've never found those answers, and I don't think I ever will, even if I remain a ghost forever.  
  
And that's when I met you, Heero. I wanted to be your friend; I sensed something different about you. I really, really wanted to get to know you better, so I left that note on your desk in hopes you would think it was me." Duo sighed for what seemed like the millionth time during the conversation. "And that's what I've been trying to get you to figure out all this time, Heero. I had tried to make friends with people for the past fifty years, but I always ended up screwing my chances by revealing what I am too soon in getting to know them. So I was very cautious with you. Instead of telling you, I dropped a lot of hints which I think you picked up on. But these powers I have are my curse. I'm not like you, Heero. I wanna be alive and go to school like a normal kid, but I can't. I can't live normally. Heck, I can't even live in death normally. And this, my friend, is my story."  
  
Heero stood in awe of the ethereal being walking right beside him. He had befriended a ghost and he hadn't even known. "But Duo... why didn't you tell me this in the first place?"  
  
"Because, Heero. I had done that before, and I really screwed myself over. People wanted to be my friend... until they found out what I am. And then they looked at me like I was gonna go psycho and start killing everthing. I didn't want you to hate me. I wanted you to like me. I wanted you to be my friend. I wanted to be your friend." Duo said despondently, glancing into Heero's eyes for the briefest moment. Eyes he had fallen in love with.  
  
"You... you wanted to be my friend? Why would someone like you want to befriend someone like me?"  
  
Duo smiled slightly. "I sensed you were someone different that the others, Heero. I got the feeling you were someone special."  
  
Heero smirked and shook his head. "I'm no one special... I've wanted powers like yours, for a very long time, Duo. Maybe that way I could gain some recognition."  
  
"You don't want these kinds of powers, Heero."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
Duo sighed in frustration. "Do you really wanna have to die?! You don't need special powers or abilities in order to be someone special!"  
  
"I already told you. It wouldn't change anything if I were dead." Heero said blatantly. "I'm not someone special, Duo."  
  
"That's not true, Heero! That's not true at all!"  
  
Heero growled. "I am not lying."  
  
"Yeah you are, because you know what, Heero? You're special to me! You, Heero Yuy, are special to me!" Before he knew what he was doing, Duo had pressed his lips against Heero's. He pulled back a moment later, staring deep into Heero's eyes. "You're special to me, Heero."  
  
Wordlessly, Heero gathered the braided boy into his arms as they sat down on a bench they found at the park. He clutched on to Duo as if he were his lifeline, and letting him go would bring about the end of the world. In the cool and mysterious gaze of the almost-midnight moon, a single tear glistened its way down Heero's cheek and onto Duo's shoulder.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
^_^ WAI! I've been itching to get to this part since the beginning of the story. *is happy* I really really hope you guys didn't mind the wait until this scene, but it's all worth it if ya get 1x2-yumminess in the end, right? *chews gum* Oh. If anyone finds a beam cannon... please email it to me in a zip file so I can thwap my gym teacher with it _ *growls* I really don't like him...  
  
...  
  
Berrful Hunter  
  
email: ilovetchan@yahoo.com / bringmetolife02@yahoo.com (either works... I check 'em both)  
  
OR  
  
IM: Tsuiraku Hoshi 


	5. Death Comes Too Soon

The Legend of the 576  
  
YO! ^_^ This is the ending I had started writing when I posted chapter two. It took me one helluva long time to actually finish.. and in truth, I still have to type up some few scenes for the next chapter(s). But I think this is really going along pretty well, don't you think?  
  
^__^ Thank you to Ice Princess Xia aka Sam for uploading this chapter when my computer rebelled against me!  
  
NOTES: Some OOC on Heero's part. Deal with it. This is AU. D Oh, sorry if this is kinda short. But it's a crucial chapter.  
  
DEDICATED IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY GREAT-AUNT DOROTHY **Rest In Peace**  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
It was a mystical moonlit night as the two boys sat in eachother's arms in the serene park, the smile gone from the thinner of the two's face. That boy, Duo, loathed tonight. For it was the night when the curse he had been put under fifty years ago, the curse the despondent and hated driver had escaped, would finally take effect. Right about now, he was contemplating his life since his death. Perhaps it was a good thing he had died, because he met Heero. But at the same time, he thought, no one should have to die at fifteen. No one.   
  
He felt these passing seconds were truly his last. And it wasn't fair at all. He had finally seemed to get things in somewhat respective order. And time decided to run out.   
  
He could already feel his heartbeat stopping occasionally.  
  
Heero seemed to notice Duo's silence, but spoke not. Duo wouldn't have heard him anyways, he was too deep in thought. But wait. Wasn't there a way he could undo the curse of the Vestige*? Didn't the Undoing merely require him to share a kiss with his one true love? The Vestige thought, for sure, no one would be foolish enough to fall in love with a ghost. Duo and Heero were in what could be called love, were they not? He had to know. He just had to.  
  
"Hey, Heero? You don't mind me being what I am, do you?"   
  
Heero responded by tightening his arm around Duo's shoulders. "I love whom I love. It doesn't matter what you are."   
  
Duo nodded. "Heero, Hee-chan, there's something you need to know, about me..."   
  
"What?" Heero breathed, eyes narrowing. He wasn't sure he liked the uneasy tone in Duo's voice.  
  
"I'll probably never see you again after tonight. See, I'm under a... curse. I'm really gonna be dead after tonight is over." he paused, burying his head in his lover's shoulder. "Heero, I don't wanna die. I'm already dead, but once the clock strikes midnight," Duo ran his finger gently over Heero's silver watch. "I'll really be gone..."   
  
"No," Heero gasped, tightening his already firm hold on Duo, almost believing that if he were to hold him securely enough, no harm could befall Duo. "Isn't there a way anything can be done?! Duo, I can't... lose you."   
  
"Well," Duo blushed, "There--" he suddenly stopped speaking as he saw Heero's eyes widen in timing with an icy feeling spreading over his entire body. "Oh, God... HEERO!" the frigid sensation snaked through his veins. "It's started! It's already started! He's trying to call me back!" Duo grabbed his head and shook in Heero's arms.  
  
"Duo... you're dissapearing! And what do you mean, it's already started?! Who's trying to call you back? DUO!"   
  
The boy in question clutched his chest, nodding his head in sad affirmation. "This is it, Hee-" he coughed, "-ro."   
  
"Shut up," Heero growled, "This isn't `it', so shut up. You're going to live, understood?"   
  
Duo blanched, gritting his teeth. He pushed one eye open and saw his fingernails starting to become transparent. He could almost see the blood running through his fingers. "There is a way..." Duo grunted, "But-"  
  
"No buts, Duo. Finish your sentence."   
  
Duo quieted, but his shoulders still shook and his breathing continued faultering.   
  
"Answer me," Heero commanded, shaking Duo's smaller frame, "Finish your damn sentence! That's an order!"   
  
Silence fell upon Duo as time continued ticking. Heero glared at his watch. Three more minutes. "Duo, hurry up and answer me! You've only got three more minutes!"   
  
Duo's eyes glazed over as he raised his head to the sky, violet orbs sparkling with a knowledge of salvation. "He's coming for me." he said, trance-like, "He's coming!"   
  
Heero paused, tense, and waved his hand infront of Duo's eyes, occassionally glaring at the sky to see what Duo saw. But he saw no angel, no diety, coming for his koi. How long he stared, he didn't know and didn't care, but he gazed at the dark navy depths, searching. Another minute went by. What was that light he saw? He snapped out of his stare and focused on the light. Brighter and brighter it grew, larger and more voluminus. During this time, Heero noticed Duo had gone silent again. There was a flash as the light from the sky quadrippled in intensity, and when the darkness took over the night again, a pale boy dressed in a long white garb and angel wings with light hair and ocean-blue eyes was standing infront of Heero and Duo. He smiled softly at the braided boy.   
  
.  
  
"I haven't come here to harm you, Duo."   
  
"Then what are you here for?" Heero interrupted. "And what's your name, how do you know Duo?" he glared at the Angel.   
  
"You're so curious, Heero. I'm an Angel. I haven't an actual name now, but you can call me the name I went by when I was alive. It is Quatre. I've known Duo for quite some time, he is a very good friend of mine--"  
  
"Get to the point."  
  
"Yes, I was just getting there." Quatre extended his hand to Heero. "Because he is my friend, I want only the best for him. He loves you so much, Heero. While Shinigami might want to take him from you, I have higher powers, because I am the Angel of Life, and can keep him alive," Quatre placed his hand on Duo's forehead. "Struggle no longer. You don't have to suffer the extent of this curse, Duo." A bright and pure white light escaped Quatre's hand and engulfed Duo's body, until eventually Heero had to reluctantly let go and cover his eyes. He sat in awe as Quatre's power was transferred into Duo. Gasping in sudden realization, Heero shaded his watch just enough to be able to clearly read the time. 'No!' Heero's heart raced. "QUATRE! Hurry up! It's almost midnight!" The Japanese watched helplessly as the seconds ticked by and the dreaded midnight drew nearer.   
  
Three...  
  
"DUO!"  
  
Two...  
  
"Please, no!"  
  
One...  
  
"STOP!"  
  
Zero.  
  
Midnight.  
  
Heero felt as if his heart stopped when he saw a tall, slim, cloaked figure emerge slowly from the darkness.   
  
~~~*~~~  
  
*smiles innocently* Now, while you may want to kill me for that cliffhanger... If you DO kill me, there won't be any more updates, because only I know what's really gonna happen, and all the details. *smiles bigger*   
  
...  
  
Berrful Hunter  
  
email: ilovetchan@yahoo.com / bringmetolife02@yahoo.com (either works.. I check both)  
  
OR  
  
IM: Tsuiraku Hoshi 


	6. Tears of an Angel

The Legend of the 576  
  
Whee! Almost done! ^_^ *grins* I really hope you guys like this. Oh. This chapter contains quite the lot of angst, blood, and freaky stuff. Don't read if you can't handle it. Uh, I think there'll only be one more chapter after this one... *frowns* I wanted this story to be at least ten chapters, but I have everything plotted out and see that there isn't enough stuff in the fic to create those ten chapters. So I hope you're happy with 7 chapters ^_^.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
Quatre froze as the figure approached them inch by deadly inch. He jerked around and gasped, coming eye-to-eye with Death itself. "Leave him alone," the Angel said protectively, preparing to use his giant ivory wings to protect Heero and Duo.  
  
"You have tampered with my bidding, Angel." Shinigami hissed at Quatre through the darkness masking him. Here, Heero pulled out the pistol he carried everywhere for protection, and jumped between Shinigami and Duo, holding the gun at where he supposed the dark god's `face' was.  
  
"Stay away from Duo, you bastard Shinigami!" he began showering Shinigami with bullets, knowing full well he couldn't kill death. During all of this, Duo was trying to gather all his different energies, to use to protect himself and his cobalt-eyed love. Quatre turned to Heero and shouted at him to stop, frantic. Shinigami smirked at the Japanese and stuck his bony hand out in Heero's direction, cackling evilly as his skeletal fist glowed a blinding green. Heero grunted as he was thrown back into the trunk of a nearby tree at inhuman speeds. His head hit the tree the hardest; his vision suddenly blackened about the second after the impact. A gasp of shock was heard from Duo's general direction as a thin trail of blood trickled down the side of Heero's head at a painfully slow pace.  
  
"Oh my God! Heero!" Using all his strength, Duo pulled himself to his feet, coughing and stumbling all the way until he collapsed beside Heero, panting. The braided American pushed his hand out from under him to lay it gently on Heero's shoulder. He shook Heero tenderly. "Heero, come on man, wake up!" A series of powerful coughs racked Duo's weakening body. "Don't die now, Heero! Please!"  
  
Quatre watched with horror as Duo grew weaker and the wound on Heero's head started pouring more blood. The blonde angel glanced back and forth between the two boys and Shinigami. The god was waiting patiently for the braided boy's life to fade away. "Death is such a beautiful thing to watch, don't you agree, Angel?"  
  
The boy paled at the question he was asked. "No," Quatre said firmly, "death is not beautiful. It causes pain and misery to people. It's not a beautiful thing."  
  
"You just don't appreciate it, being such a *holy* and *pure* being," the god smirked, turning his fist around slowly and forcefully. Duo's voice was heard crying out in pain. Quatre's head jerked back to the two suffering boys.  
  
Duo's hand was clutching his chest as he fought back an agonizing scream. His violet eyes were set in a deathglare towards Shinigami. "Listen, you, if you want to take anyone then take me, but don't--" he struggled to let go of his chest and reached down, pulling a stray strand of chocolate hair out of Heero's face while he ran his hand over his koi's cheek, ignoring the searing pain in his heart. Duo forced his gaze back to the god, "Don't. Hurt Heero."  
  
A harsh laugh escaped the masked darkness. "Your time to join my ranks came long, long ago. And I've been waiting ever since then, to take you into my kingdom. I've been waiting so very, very long. Do not deny me what has cost me fifty years of death, and patience. I will get what I want!"  
  
Both Duo and Quatre gasped as one skeletal hand rose and began to pull back the hood of the cloak; Duo could have sworn he heard lightning crackle off in the distance. The very sky seemed to churn with pain as its comforting deep blue hues were plunged into the darkest black. A low wind blew forcefully, howling eerily with regret and fear as it swept about, a deathly chill haunting its touch. The blonde and brunette paled when Shinigami had pulled his cloak off what appeared to be his head completely. There was no real `face', but instead of peircing eyes, or droopy ears, cracking lips, or a molding nose, there was a skull. A dusted, greying skull. Duo was sure he was going to lose his dinner and lunch as well when something small and yellowish peeked out from behind an empty eye socket, which glowed a bloody red. A light yet icy mist escaped from what appeared to be the part of the skull where a mouth would usually be. Behind the mist was raspy and hoarse breathing, it sounded as if there was a flap which cut off the greater portion of Shinigami's voice.  
  
Duo covered his mouth for the briefest of moments before his knees faltered and he fell foward onto his hands, which immediately let out from under him. He landed with a soft thud with his head on Heero's chest and legs tucked underneath him on the grass. Heero seemed to have regained conciousness at that moment, for he grunted as Duo's head landed on his chest. Once the cobalt-eyed boy realized who it was that was half on him, he forced his uninjured arm up and rested it on Duo's head; he twitched his fingers into motion and gently stroked Duo's hair. "D-Duo..."  
  
"Hey, Heero," Duo responded softly, reaching over and taking Heero's hand in his, clutching on to it with all his remaining strength and shaking his fist slightly. "We'll go together, man,"  
  
Heero squeezed Duo's hand in a last attempt at affection, and nodded ever so slightly, exhaling. "Together in life..." a long pause.  
  
"...together in death." Duo concluded as he allowed his eyes to close.  
  
.  
  
Quatre's eyes widened in terror. "NO!" he snapped back around to Shinigami, glaring. "No! You can't! Leave them be!"  
  
The skull's eyes flashed red and the jaw bone moved. "I've been waiting for so long," Shinigami said, putting extra emphasis on the last two words, "Coveting and desiring to bring those two into my world. I will not wait any longer! Get out of my way, Angel!" Green light flashed, much like the same light which had thrown Heero back the twenty feet into a tree trunk, and the bony hand of the dark god started shooting out, aimed at Duo's throat.  
  
Quatre's mind was racing. `Sacrifice is key to victory!' he shouted to himself mentally, diving in the path of Shinigami's hand. Upon coming in contact with Quatre's neck, the fist tightened and began choking the Angel. The blonde struggled against the grip, gasping for air while his fair- skinned hands reached up to the god's own skeletal limb, trying to pry the fingers apart. "I won't... let you harm them...!"  
  
"You fool! You have interferred one too many times! It is time you were put in your place!" Shinigami released his deathgrip on Quatre, but not before throwing him to the ground.  
  
Quatre sat up shakilly, expanding his wings and rising to his feet. "Please don't make me fight you, Shinigami. I don't want a fight."  
  
"Coward," spat the god. "You just don't want to fight me because it would taint your purity."  
  
Narrowing his eyes, Quatre made direct eye-contact with Shinigami. "Fighting is wrong. We shouldn't have to resolve everything by killing one another."  
  
"Pacifism," scoffed the god. The eyes of the skull glowed red as they focused on Duo and Heero, both barely clinging to life. Shinigami peered hungrily at the two boys as their life was slowly and torturously drained.  
  
Quatre stumbled over to them, ignoring it when he felt something trickle down the side of his face. Glancing quickly to the side, the ethereal being saw silver blood dripping from the side of his head. He returned his gaze to his friends, fear and worry building inside him. Gently he shook Duo's shoulder. "Duo? Duo! Duo wake up! Please, Duo!" Seeing no reaction from Duo, Quatre crawled over to Heero and tried to being him back to a healthy level of conciousness. When there was no response at all from Heero, Quatre felt tears building in his eyes. Reality hit him, that not only could he lose Duo, but Heero as well. "Duo! Heero! Please wake up! Don't die, please! Guys? Guys!" Feeling an unexpected presense behind him, Quatre turned around sharply to come face to face with Shinigami. "I won't let you take them! They don't deserve death!"  
  
The god's skull curved into a smirk. "I'll dispose of you as well! Kill three birds with one stone!"  
  
"Don't make me fight you." warned Quatre, stepping infront of the two barely alive boys. Before anyone could register anything, there was a very familiar flash of green light, and Quatre suddenly found himself sprawled out on the ground beside Duo, a painful wound at the back of his head. Cringing and gritting his teeth, Quatre stood slowly and forcefully, silver blood tainting the pure white of his wings. Shinigami watched ruefully as the Angel fought to stand to his feet.  
  
"Argh!" cried the god in frustration, turning his hand around in a slow circle. "Why won't you die?!"  
  
Now Quatre knew why Duo had yelped out earlier. The blonde clutched his chest as he felt a searing pain in his heart. It was unlike any kind of pain imaginable. It felt like a thousand white-hot knives were being inched slowly into his heart. Shinigami smiled cruelly as Quatre grabbed at his heart, shaking in immense pain, yet refusing to allow his knees to cave in. Tears were streaming from his closed eyes as he bit back a scream. No. He wouldn't ever give Shinigami the pleasure of hearing him express pain. Some of Quatre's tears splashed on to Duo's gently shut eyes. The tears sparkled on the braided boy's eyelashes then promptly dissapeared. Duo's eyebrows furrowed for just the slightest moment before relaxing. Shinigami saw this, and glared daggers at the still struggling angel. The god growled dangerously and threw a bony hand out at Quatre, grabbing him around the neck and shaking him violently. "You!"  
  
"I refuse to fight!" Quatre mumbled through gritted teeth as Shinigami continued choking him. But even as the dying angel struggled, a light began shining from the joining point of his wings. The light grew blindingly bright as the god's hand tightened even more around Quatre's neck. Shinigami's crackety voice was heard at this point for miles around, roaring animalistically as the very midnight sky seemed to part, dawning a heavenly light on the limp bodies of Duo and Heero, the shaking form of Quatre, and, lastly, the malicious grin of Shinigami's skull.  
  
A powerful and strict disembodied voice descended from the heavens. "You have comitted great injustice, Shinigami!"  
  
Shinigami's grip on Quatre suddenly loosened as he gasped up at the sky. Quatre took this opportunity to try and revive Duo and Heero. Staggering due to a debilitating pain in his ankle, the Angel collapsed besides the two, not even caring about the bleeding wound on his temple.  
  
"I was just doing my job!" Shinigami roared back at the sky, standing strong against a powerfully blowing wind.  
  
"Do not argue with me! What I said was correct and now you must face the punishment of your unruly actions!" the voice shouted, angered. The light pouring down from the heavens started to become brighter and brighter until anyone looking in its general direction would be blinded instantly. Shinigami's cloak fell to the earthy ground as a blood-curdling scream tore out from the skull.  
  
Then, it was silent.  
  
Quatre gazed at the remnants of Shinigami in awe, staring disbelieving. He snapped out of it and shook his head. He had a job to do. Turning back around to Duo and Heero, Quatre ran his hands over two closed sets of eyes, transferring life back into the boys even as he started to shake uncontrollably. His own life force was diminishing as he was giving life to Heero and Duo.  
  
Even though his vision was starting to darken, Quatre continued attempting to revive Duo and Heero. He couldn't hold out for long, though, as the last of his life force left his body. A light groan escaped the Angel's lips as he sank to the ground, dying. The lack of life energy combined with his severe wounds was slowly killing him.  
  
Finally, Quatre conceeded to fatigue and allowed his aqua eyes to slide shut as he transferred the last of his powers into the two boys. He sat back, supporting himself with one shaking hand, tilting his head up at the parted sky. "I'm... coming home..." he whispered as his supporting arm went limp and he fell backwards, his light blonde hair clashing gently with the sharp jade grass, heart still, breathing non-existant, and closed eyes dead as he slowly started to fade away.  
  
.  
  
In the frigid silence following the Angel's death, tiny bits of pure love skated down the currents of the air, settling softly around the slight forms of Heero and Duo, sparkling.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
w00t! chapter 7! One more to gooo! ^_^  
  
...  
  
Berrful Hunter  
  
email: ilovetchan@yahoo.com / bringmetolife02@yahoo.com (either works... I check both.)  
  
OR  
  
IM: Tsuiraku Hoshi 


	7. A Bittersweet Ending

The Legend of the 576  
  
Here it is! The final chapter! I hope you liked this story! And tons of glomps, hiyas, and hugs to those who reviewed! I love you guys! ^_^ *huggles reviewers* This chapter is kinda short, but there isn't much else to write. I got the main part of the story out of the way, so yeah.  
  
Suprise ending! *I* wasn't even expecting it! By the way... in case you're wondering... this is AU, so aaaa~aaanything at all can happen. And I do mean anything.  
  
And since the last few chapters have been really heavy on the angst, I decided to lighten the mood and add some humor in this chapter.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
Duo's eyes opened slowly and reluctantly, until he was fully concious and staring blankly ahead of him. He soon snapped out of his dazed state and looked around him, before realizing he was half-laying on Heero. 'Heero!' Duo quickly sat up and shook Heero's shoulders, seeing the paleness and clamy appearance of his koi's face. Tears sprung into the American's eyes as he crawled behind Heero and pulled the slightly taller Japanese boy into his lap, holding on to him as tight as his reawakening muscles would allow. Heero's head rested limply on Duo's shoulder as the braided boy clutched on to him tighter. "Heero? Heero! Heero man please don't give up on me now! Please Heero!"  
  
The scene continued like that for a while - Duo holding on tight to Heero and begging him to awaken, and Heero remaining either dead or unconcious in Duo's arms; Duo was too panicked to asess the situation, but something inside told him Heero wasn't dead.  
  
Another fifteen minutes went by, but by now Duo was just staring emptily at the mass of black clothing huddled on the ground some twenty-twenty-five feet from where he was. Tears were dripping from his eyes one by one, falling on to Heero's shirt sleeve and shoulder. "Heero... please don't leave me now... we fought so hard to win, and we did win, Heero you can't bail out now, buddy..."  
  
Duo had fallen silent after another half hour as he still hadn't relinquished his grip on Heero. He didn't even notice as one of Heero's fingers twitched ever so slightly.  
  
Heero opened his eyes to feel someone holding him tight. Instantly, he recognized the soft and gentle touch as that of Duo. But he couldn't really figure out what had happened... He'd tried to fight Shinigami, and then been thrown back... What happened after that? 'Oh yeah,' he remembered. 'But wait. Didn't... Duo and I die? Are we in heaven? What's... going on?' Heero glanced to the side and saw Duo's tearstained eyes peering in an empty gaze at some far off object in the sky. "Duo...?"  
  
Almost automatically, Duo's eyes widened and he turned his head around to come eye-to-eye with none other than Heero. A gigantic grin spread across his face. "Heero!" Duo hugged Heero close to him. "You're alright! You're alright!" Once again Duo felt the familiar blurriness as tears filled his eyes, but now instead of tears of pain, it was tears of happiness.  
  
As he came more to his senses, Heero began to feel pain throughout his body. He groaned softly under his breath, allowing himself to relax into Duo's arms. "Where... where's Shinigami?" asked the cobalt-eyed boy.  
  
"He's gone, Heero. He's gone."  
  
The two lapsed into silence for a few minutes before Duo's voice rang out from the stillness of the night. "Hey, Heero?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"We're a couple now, right?" Duo's voice wavered slightly as he posed his question.  
  
Heero turned back to face Duo and looked him sternly in the eye. "Of course."  
  
"Good." Duo replied, grinning before he softly pressed his lips to Heero's, not only breaking the curse but experiencing true love for the first time in a long, long while.  
  
* / * / *One Year Later* / * / *  
  
Duo curled into Heero's lap and snuggled against his lover, seeking the warmth only Heero could provide on an end-of-winter afternoon. They were sitting on the very park bench they had been the night neither of them would ever forget, but never wanted to remember. It had taken Duo a while to get over the death of Quatre, but eventually through Heero's unyeilding and unconditional love and support, he was able to accept it and move on, in a sense. He never did forget his blonde best friend, because there were ways to tell if an Angel was nearby. And Duo was constantly keeping an eye out for anything even remotely resembling Quatre.  
  
Except now as they sat, it wasn't nighttime, and there was nothing even remotely sad going on. In fact, it was just the opposite. It was the happiest event of both their lives.  
  
Duo Maxwell, and Heero Yuy, were getting married, with Lucrezia Noin to be the replacement pastor, because the actual pastor came down with the flu the night before and had to cancel. So, in desperate last resorts, Heero phoned Noin, who he believed to have been the most sensible out of all the people he had met since Duo started returning to school like a normal fifteen year old. Also, he thought Noin would be the most comfortable being the 'pastor' to marry two guys.  
  
"Come on, love. We're gonna be late for our own wedding." Heero smiled into Duo's ear.  
  
Duo smiled. "That would be kinda funny. 'And now, we introduce the stars of the show, Heero and Duo--wait! Those two aren't even here!'" he exclaimed in a poor imitation of Noin's voice. "Yeah, that would be funny."  
  
Heero nodded as he stood, encircling his arm around Duo's waist. "You know... I still can't believe how we met."  
  
"It is kinda strange." Duo agreed.  
  
"I wouldn't call it strange... more like... unique."  
  
A laugh. "...you mean unique in the sense that a ghost and a human being fell in love and fought against Death via the help of an Angel in a battle filled with one helluva lotta blood and gore which ended up almost killing the both of us."  
  
"To put it shortly, yes."  
  
The two halted in their conversation when a voice called out to them. Turning, they saw a friendly looking woman with dark purple hair falling gently over one side of her face. Heero nodded at her. "Noin."  
  
"You two are going to miss your own wedding if you don't hurry it up, come on now!" Noin chuckled, grabbing onto Duo's sleeve and dragging him off to the center stage, where a somewhat small group of people were standing, dressed in fancy clothing with delicate fringes for the girls (Relena, Hilde, Catherine, Sally, and Dorothy), and spotless tuxedos for the boys, though some of the boys would be more accurately described as men (Trowa, Treize, and Milliardo, in respective order).  
  
The rest of the wedding continued on as most normal weddings do, although in the middle of Noin's last few sentences an ant crawled up Relena's leg and she shrieked loudly*, which caused Duo to double over in hysterics. Heero grinned somewhat embarrasedly, but in truth he never expected the wedding to be formal. In fact, he didn't want it to be formal; he was almost hoping something would go amiss and he and Duo would have funny memories to look back on. Noin smiled and shook her head as she cleared her throat.  
  
"...and Duo--"  
  
"Yes, I take him as my husband and all that good stuff!" Duo exclaimed, cutting a somewhat ruffled Noin off as he slammed into Heero's arms and kissed him. The crowd of nine people burst into laughter at the pure hilarity of the situation. Hilde grabbed a camera from her purse and bounded out into the aisle infront of the two newly-weds, calling their names. Heero and Duo turned around, curious, then muttered a sound of slight annoyance as a light flashed in their eyes; Hilde smiled at them.  
  
"Well, they always said candid shots are the best!"  
  
Duo picked up a cookie from a nearby table and chucked it at Hilde, before grinning and kissing Heero again.  
  
* * *  
  
Duo sat in Heero's lap long after the actual wedding had ended, it was now approaching nightfall. The two stared up at the sky, a million and one thoughts running through their minds.  
  
"Hey, Heero?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
Turning back around to face Heero, Duo sat sideways in his lap. "Do you ever think about Quatre anymore?"  
  
Heero was silent for a little while. "Sometimes..."  
  
"I do," Duo said, sitting properly in Heero's lap once more. "I miss that guy. It's no suprise he became an Angel. No suprise at all. I wonder if we'll ever see him again."  
  
"Yeah..." Heero trailed off.  
  
`You will, you guys. I know you will, because now I'll be there to protect you two while you're dreaming.` A voice, almost unmistakeably Quatre's voice, filled their minds momentarily.  
  
Duo blinked. "Did you hear that?"  
  
Heero nodded and smiled as a single white feather floated down from above, landing gently beside them on the grass. He picked it up as softly as he possibly could, and showed it to Duo.  
  
"Yeah. He'll be there."  
  
.  
  
Up above, in a quiet corner of heaven, Quatre sat on a white bench and smiled down at the two. Even if he couldn't appear to them anymore with a physical body, who was to say he couldn't appear to them, in their dreams.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
...Wow. Just wow. I didn't plan for THIS ending at all. It just sorta happened... But wow. This amazed even me, and I'm the one who wrote it. *yawns* well, now that I've written and edited about... four chapters in one night, I'm tired. ^_^ Ya think a little angel-Quatre will appear in my dream? Hehe, that'd be cute... oh well. I hope you liked this! Thanks to all of you who continued reading this despite my very bad writer's block!  
  
*- This is NOT intended for Relena-bashing. If you look at the next few sentences, it states clear as day that Heero never wanted his wedding to be formal, which is why I inserted the ant thing. And I chose a GWing girl at random. I might not be a fan at all of 1xR, but I don't hate Relena. In EW she's pretty cool. So, I repeat, THIS SCENE WAS NOT INTENDED FOR RELENA- BASHING AND I'M SORRY IF YOU TOOK IT THE WRONG WAY. ...  
  
Berrful Hunter  
  
email: ilovetchan@yahoo.com / bringmetolife02@yahoo.com (either works.. I check both.)  
  
OR  
  
IM: Tsuiraku Hoshi 


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